Roofing shingle



J ly 1929. 1.. KIRSCHBRAUN ET AL ROOFING SHINGLE Filed Aug. "I, 1925 Patent duly an, 19:29.."

an arenas r'rar eaten.

LESTER i l i r Rama, or meme, new 'rnasnr, Ann care a. m seamen, ED131018, srenoas are run rnm'rno'rn coma sacnusa'r'rs, a coarona'rron. or massncnusnrrs.

:r or aosron, s-

noornre snm'enn Since such shingles are of thin construction, they present a monotonous or flat ap:

pearance when laid on a roof surface in overlapping courses. Moreover. because of the inherent flexibility of such shingles, they are sometimes subject to curling, and their butt ends are liable to be raised by the wind, and allow rain to beat in under them so that the appearance and the waterproofing qualities of the roof covering are impaired. Hence, the primary object of the present invention,

generally stated is to provide an asphalt or prepared shingle of a thick butt end construction, which will impart an appearance of substantial solidity or thickness to a roof or other exposed surface when laid, and which will not be raised by the action of the elements. A further objectis to provide a method for the production of such shingles in an economical and efficient manner.

Briefly stated, the shingle of the present invention is of a stepped or variable thickness construction, the butt end portion as laid being of the greatest thickness, and the upper end portion of least thickness. There may be portions intermediate the thicker and thinner portions of one or more intermediate thicknesses, and these portions of varied thickness may either be sharply defined orstepped, or they may merge more or less gradually one into another. In any event, however, the

lower or butt portion is of a thicker construction than the upper portion of the shingle, and is provided with an adhesive bed coating comprising a plurality of strata of asphalt between which are sandwiched and, in which are embedded a layer or layers of crushed slate or equivalent mineral grit. The strata of asphalt and the layer or layers of grit surface of the sheet. When such a sheet is Application filed August 7, 1925. serial No. 48,840.

are firmly united or bonded to form an integral coating, and there is a surface layer of grit partially embedded in the asphalt stratum immediately thereunder.- In a shingle where there, are portions of intermediate Y thickness, these portions are provided with bed coatings comprising fewer asphaltv strata to and fewer layers of grit therebetween than the butt portion, but this bed coating is also surfaced with a layer of grit. The upper portion of the shingle, however, is coated with only a single stratum of asphalt in which is partially embedded the surface layer of crushed slate. The entire surface of the shingle is thus formed of a partially em-- EeddIed layer of grit or crushed mineral maer1a The novel shingle may be prodiiced by coating. a sheet of asphalt-saturated fibrous material, such as is usually employed in the manufacture of roofings, with a layer of asphalt, then partially embedding a layer of plying a plurality of asphalt coatings along successively narrower portions or longitudinal zones on one side of the sheet, and partially embedding layers of mineral'grit between the successive coatingsand after the last coating, thereby producinga sheet construction the thickness of which is variable or stepped along its width, or .a narrow stripe of asphalt may first be applied and grit par tially embedded therein, followed by applications of asphalt and grit in wider stripes, or zones, the final coating of asphalt, with its surface layer of grit. coveringvthe entire cut transverselyof its length, shingles embodyin'g the present inventionare produced.

The invention may best be understood from i the following more detailed description thereof, when considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents in sectional view, diagrammatically and conventionally, a portion of the apparatus by means of which the shingle may be produced. a

Figure 2 represents a plan .view of the same. f

Figure 3 illustrates a shingle embodying the present invention.

- Figure 4 e ents a section on the line 4-4 of Fire 3.

v75 .mineral grit in the asphalt coating and apaccordance with the present invention in the course of its travel from right to left, as viewed in the drawing.- The sheet material may consist of the felt or equivalent fibrous material usually employed in the manufacture of roofing, saturated or impregnated by a previous treatment with asphalt or other suitable waterproofing agent.

In the practice of the present invention, the sheet S, in its horizontal travel or propulsion produced by suitable means (not shown), is shown as being first coated over its entire surface with asphalt in which there is partially embedded a surfacing layer of grit. To this end, the sheet S is subjected on 1ts upper face to a stream of semi-fluid (preferably molten) asphalt delivered thereonto from a coating nozzle 1 located directly thereabove. The asphalt-coated sheet passes from the coatin nozzle over a guide roll 2, above which an acting on the coated sheet is a scraper or doctor 3 (which may, if desired, be a roll), which acts to distribute the semi-fluid asphalt evenly over the sheet and to remove any surplus asphalt from the sheet in its passage thereby. The asphalt-coated sheet is then surfaced with a layer of crushed slate or other equivalent grit While the as halt is still in its semi-plastic state. For t iis purpose, there is provided a hopper or grit distributor 4, suitplying further coatings of asphalt on'theably supplied with grit in regulated and controlled quantity from a grit feed conduit 5 thereabove, which is arranged to distribute,

grit evenly and uniformly throughout the width of the sheet. The grit surfaced sheet is then passed successively throu h a, air of press rolls 6, G and under-a gui e r0 1 7 located below the lower roll 6. The press rolls partially force or embed the slate into the asphalt and in the downwardpassage of the sheet from the lower press roll 6 to the guide roll 7 any non-adherent or excess'and unembedded grit falls from the sheet into a trough or receptacle 8. Thus far I have described a method of coating and surfacing fibrous material, all of which is well known in the art.

According to the present invention, however, provision is made for further increasing the thickness of the sheet material in longitudinal zones thereof. This is done by apsheet along successively narrower portions or longitudinal zones and partially embedding grit in each asphalt coating. To this end, the

rit surfaced sheetpasses from the guide roll over guide roll 9, again assuming a horizontal avel, and is now subjected to another asphaltceating operation along a narrower .side portion or longitudinal zone, after which slate is partially embedded in the asphaltcoated portiom For this purpose, the coated phalt-coated portion from a hopper 15. The

grit is partially embedded as previously, byv passage of the sheet through a second palr of press rolls 16, 16 and provision is made to remove excess' grit, as previously, by a downward passage of the sheet about. the press roll 16 to a guide roll 17, the excess or unembedded grit dropping into a trough 18. The

sheet now consists of thicker and thinner side portions, and may be cut transversely of 1ts length into shingles, the thicker portion serv ing as the butt portion and being sufiiciently thick and rigidto resist the action of the elements and to impart a substantial appearance to the roof.

It may, however, be desirable to still further increase the thickness of a still'narrower side portion of the sheet which is to form the butt portion of the shingles, and in such cases this ortion of the sheet may be subjected to anot 1er thickening operation. In such cases, i

the-sheet passes from the guide 'rolls 17 successively under a coating'nozzle 19, which is arranged to distribute asphalt over the desired width of sheet, thence by a scraper 21, and under a grit distributor 22, which is positioned to. surface the last coated portion with grit. the asphalt coating by a pair of press rolls 26, 26, and the thickened sheet passes under a The grit is partially embedded in guide roll 27, after which, if desired, it may be cut, or if further thickening of a side portion is desired, it maybe subjected to further thickening operations.

The sheet-is cut transversely of its length into shingles of the desired length by transverse cutters or any other suitable cutting mechanism, the resulting shingles presenting an appearance as illustrated by an embodiment shown in Figure 3. The shingle is of stepped or varying thickness, and comprises a waterproof fibrous base or foundation W, coated with a pluralityof superposed asphalt strata'a, a a -each respectivelyhaving mineral grit g, g g embedded therein;

said strata being of progressively narrower width toward the butt end of the shingle.

The upper portion T thus has only one stra;

tum a, and surfacing g, of grit, and is thinner than the lower-or butt portion B, and there 15 an intermediate portion I having one less .coating of asphalt and one less surfacingthan to a plurality of coating and gritting operations, it will be understood that both sur-' faces of the shingle may be so treated. Moreover, different colored grits may be embedded in the successive coating operations, and similarly the size of the grit material and its 1 composition or quality may be varied. For example, the lowermost grit surfacing may be of very fine and cheap grit, whereas the uppermost or exposed surface may be coarse and more expensive grit granules. Or the upper portion of the shingle may not be surfaced with grit, whereas the lower portion may be provided with a plurality of surfacm s.

llVhile we have described a construction in which the lower portion of the shingle is thicker than the upper or unexposed portion, thereby allowing for the saving of asphalt and grit, it is, of course, possible to provide a construction where the entire shingle is of uniform thickness and is provided with aplurality of strata of asphalt between which are the layers of grit. J

'By the shingle construction described herein, we may produce shingles of thick construction, which are more economically man: ufactured than shingles which are thickened by the employment of a thick fibrous foundation, or which are mainly thickened by the use of a thick asphalt coating. That is, in the thickened shingle of the present invention, we have substituted the use of grit as a thickening constituent, in place of asphalt or fibrous material. Moreover, in so doing we I have been primarily concerned with the thickening of the butt or exposed portion, since it is this portion which imparts to the roof its waterproofing characteristics and its appearance.

It is evident that, with a sheet that is wider than the length of the shingles to be out therefrom, the narrowest zone of asphalt and grit may be located in the central portion of the sheet, and the sheet then slit longitudinally along its longitudinal median line to form strips from which shingles embodying the present invention may be cut. As previously indicated, instead of first applying layers of asphalt and grit over the entire surface of the sheet, and then applying therein successively narrower layers of asphalt and grit therein, the operation may be reversed. That lying the other coatings.

is, we may apply the narrowest layers first, and then apply successively wider layers, un-

til the final layer of asphalt with the grit partially embedded therein covers the entire surface of the sheet. In some aspects, this is a preferable niode ofoperation, since a more gradual taper is produced, as the overlapping layers tend to smooth themselves at the steps, or shoulders, at the edges of the several coatings.

lVhile, for the purpose of illustration we have confined ourselves to a description of the production of individual shingles, it is obvious that in the practice of the present invention, strip shingles, so-called, having cutouts, notches, or recesses at their lower portion which define a plurality of individual shingle-simulating tabs, or any other equivalent roofing element, may be produced.

Having thus described an embodiment of this invention, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that it is capable of various changes and modifications which lie within its spirit and the scope claims.

What we claim is: l 1. A roofing element of the class described, comprising a saturated fibrous foundation, :1,

of the appended plurality of layers of waterproof coating material extending from the butt edge of the element upwardly for progressively increasing distances, the layer next to the foundation being the shortest, the outermost layer covering the'entire face of the element, and a layer of grit adhering to each successive layer of coating.

2. A roofing element of the class described, comprising a felted fibrous foundation, a layer of asphalt on a face of said element extending from the butt edge thereof approximately one-third the distance to the upper edge thereof, a layer of grit adhering to said asphalt layer, a second layer of waterproofing material overlying said first layer of asphalt and grit and having a layer of grit adhering thereto,'said second layer of asphalt and grit extending from the butt ed e of the element approximately two-thirds o the distance to the upper edge thereof, and a-third layer of grit-covered asphalt overlying both said layers of asphalt and grit and covering the entire face of the element.

3. In 'an asphalt roofing element, a fibrous base, a plurality of asphalt coatings thereon of varying heights extending upwardly from the butt edge'thereof, the shortest coating being next to said base, the longest coating over- In testimony whereof We have aifixed our signatures.

LESTER KIRSCI-IBRAUN. OTTO A. HEPPES. 

